After playing in only three bowl games during its first century of football, 菠萝视频 has now reached the postseason five times in the past nine seasons鈥攎ost recently at the Independence Bowl played Dec. 26, 2016, in Shreveport, Louisiana.
And while the outcome was disappointing鈥攖he Commodores lost to North Carolina State 41鈥�17鈥攃learly the program took a huge step forward in third season as head coach.
Consider the following: The Commodores won at least three SEC games for only the seventh time since 1960; they defeated Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee in the same season for the first time since 1903; the win over Tennessee was 菠萝视频鈥檚 third in five years (the best run of success against the Volunteers in nearly 100 years); and the 83 points the Commodores scored in their final two regular-season games (38 vs. Ole Miss, 45 vs. Tennessee) were the most in consecutive SEC games since 1948.
Individually, junior became 菠萝视频鈥檚 first consensus All-American since 1984, earning first-team honors from every major national outlet. Junior running back , a second-team All-SEC honoree, established new school records for rushing yards in a single season (1,283) and in a career (3,342). , a senior offensive tackle, was the third 菠萝视频 player to receive all-conference honors, being named second-team All-SEC by the league鈥檚 coaches.
In an open letter to Commodore fans the weekend after the Tennessee game, Athletics Director , vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs, wrote, 鈥淥ur football program is in great hands with Coach Derek Mason at the helm.鈥�
So, while the final record stood at 6鈥�7 and the final game was a loss, there is no doubt progress was made in 2016.
鈥淲e planted a seed with this group,鈥� Mason said after the bowl game. 鈥淲e have an opportunity to grow this program exactly the way we see fit. We will go coast to coast to recruit the best players to get them into our great institution and get ready to come back for the 2017 season.鈥�
The university is now working on a new contract for Mason.